Hot off the presses, Gaming in Color is streaming now, over on VHX. The best part: it’s pay-what-you-want, so you can watch it for as little as $1. (But you should probably chip in more, because come on.)
The doc dives deep into the game world, interviewing everyone from casual gaymers and industry insiders about queerness in gaming. What we see is a familiar story: while some folks find companionship and solace in games, others find that their online interactions are even more homophobic than in real life.
The documentary charts the abuse that gaymers face, but it also highlights the community that they create and the progress that the industry has made. Slowly but surely, mainstream games are featuring more inclusive content. A decade or so ago, it would have been unthinkable for a major title like Mass Effect to include a gay storyline for the main character. But there it is! And with it comes a persistent nudge to the larger gaming community to remember that LGBTs like games too.
Another major highlight is the 2013 GaymerX convention in San Francisco. Thousand of queer gamers descended on SF’s Japantown for several days of panels, tournaments, cosplay and dancing. It was a major milestone for the gayming community: everyone coming together to say “hey look! We exist, and there are a lot of us, and we are awesome!”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Now would probably be a good time to pop on over to our gallery of cosplay cuties from last year’s convention. So many sexy nerds!
And it’s going to be happening again, from July 11-13. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $70 for a three-day badge. We’ll be there, challenging anyone we can find to a MarioKart DS showdown.
Mezaien
The HOMOS rolls! we will take the world over and band Christianity, and Islam.
Pac Bob
@Mezaien:
Well, since they’ve apparently “taken over” every non-Abrahamic religion in the world to the extent that they “forced” them not to explicitly condemn homosexuality, that’s not that amazing.
boring
“A decade or so ago, it would have been unthinkable for a major title like Mass Effect to include a gay storyline for the main character.”
Actually no. Mass Effect allowed you a Lesbian relationship from the first game, into the second game and then finally some Man/Man action in the third. Though if you want to argue the “ASARI ARE ASEXUAL” semantics, I’ll point to their heaving breasts.
But really, you shouldn’t be looking for man/man relationships in Mass Effect, because Renegade Femshep with a Garrus relationship is canon. FUCKING CANON.
matt baume
@boring: Aw, come on, that was just 7 years ago, not a whole decade. A lot happened with LGBT visibility (especially marriage!) between 2004 and 2007! But anyway yeah, BioWare’s generally been ahead of the curve on this stuff… KotOR, after all.
jabba3445
This issue seems crazy, I am 21 and have been playing computer games since i was about 5 and i have played all game types, but i have never once been playing a game like COD or halo and even considered the sexuality of the character, the issue seems to just be role play games where individuals wish to act out their lives on line, i think these issues are just a coping mechanism rather than maintaining focus on the fact people wouldn’t be hiding on these websites if there wasn’t the prejudice in the real world.